SUPERMAN REQUIEM - a Gene Fallaize film

[Gandy]

Hollywood is just one part. You can make a film anywhere now and if you want to get noticed, write a cheap-to-make movie and shoot it. OR write a cheap movie and get a European producer involved. There are so many avenues to explore. American box office is not as important as it used to be - it's the international market that breaks or saves a big movie these days.

I applaud anyone who can make a movie. Now that I see the other side of the business, I have a new found respect for these guys. It's tough to make a movie, it really is. It's really hard to write a good movie. Fans don't realize that you can't necessarily blame one person when things go wrong, for example, people blame Thau for the Donner cut but there were quite a few people involved with that project. I do get pissed when people call something crap without backing it up. I used to be naive about all this myself, but now I have a better understanding and won't just crap on something. Anything I don't like I won't watch. I don't like Transformer films, so I won't watch the films. I'd pay to see Michael Bay shoot a small film, though. Life's too short to be negative, but you have to make mistakes in order to learn anything.

[ye5man]

I do get pissed when people call something crap without backing it up.

Sometimes they don't need to IMO. Like "The Expendables", "Alan Quartermain and the City of Gold" and others. You can watch with buddies and you all know its crap without saying so.

I can't have respect for film makers solely in it for the money either. Commercialised, manufactured products made for the sole purpose of money rather than any artistic merit don't deserve the benefit of the doubt.

[Gandy]

Dissing a movie with your buddies is one thing, it's another thing altogether on the internet where it becomes quite personal and vicious. The amount Lucas gets is horrible, no matter what you think of his stance on the Star Wars OT and prequels.

[Deleted]

Dissing a movie here is pretty much the same thing as dissing a movie with your buddies. It's public, and it's written, but it's the same principle in my eyes. AICN talkbacks, on the other hand.....yeah, I get where you're coming from.

[ye5man]

AICN talkbacks = mob mentality

[crazy_asian_man]

Dissing a movie here is pretty much the same thing as dissing a movie with your buddies. It's public, and it's written, but it's the same principle in my eyes. AICN talkbacks, on the other hand.....yeah, I get where you're coming from.

Well.... that's where it's just a whole thing about this 'new' age of the internet--- There used to be a real separation over being able to know what's public and private--- While there still is- but now, it's much less so. Blogs, forums, (and sizes of forums), etc. etc.--- in person, you can see/tell the age group of the other people you're talking to, versus a forum that can go worldwide. Because there are a limited amount of members, it feels smaller, than, say Aintitcoolnews.

In ways, the net is great for the anonymity- on the other hand, it's not.
(Which is why I bend towards having more sympathy over more criticism for dreamers who actually get things done with no money. The uberrich and Lucas? If they're the 1%, ok, they're still human (I presume), but since they have far less worries in far as taking care of their families financially and/or losing their homes and still having chances to achieve their dreams..... I figure they'll be ok if everyone hates their film.

For the joe schmoe who works two jobs to support his family, and banks his every last extra penny for years to make a vanity project to put up to the public, hoping they'll like it? Or the actor/actress who never will be picked for anything, but have their 2 seconds of fame in it?

It may not be my job (or anyone's) to make them feel good about it or themselves, but for anyone who's tried and failed to make a dream happen publicly in front of the world--- a bit of empathy couldn't hurt while reviewing a small project.

The next Star Wars film, though? It could be horrible, and it'll still make a gabillion dollars--- How sorry can anyone actually feel for a filmmaker who still gets paid a small (or big) fortune despite bad reviews? That's FARRR more validation than most get for people who chase the dream of creating art & the idea getting paid for it, let alone a pat on the head for jumping over the hurdles to get it done.

[Deleted]

In my experience, bluntly telling people how it is gets more results than just being nice. It motivates the ones who have the drive to get better, and weeds out the ones who will never cut it. If you're serious about what you do, and you want to get better, you should welcome brutal criticism. Especially if you're in an industry that requires a thick skin.

[ye5man]

Exactly right Shiny. You are not showing respect if you pander to feelings. I have my work criticised from time to time, its part of any creative job. I listen to what's been said, take it on board and action accordingly. Everyone is happy then.

If my inhouse testers say my work is brilliant to spare my feelings and subsequently the work looks awful when its public, we're all going to lose out at the end of the day

[crazy_asian_man]

In my experience, bluntly telling people how it is gets more results than just being nice. It motivates the ones who have the drive to get better, and weeds out the ones who will never cut it. If you're serious about what you do, and you want to get better, you should welcome brutal criticism. Especially if you're in an industry that requires a thick skin.

For professionals, sure.
Talking about FAN films here. (or at least I'm assuming that's what we're talking about)

[Deleted]

Fellaize explicitly stated that Superman: Requiem was essentially a resume project. Most big fan films probably are, on some level. If you make a film and explicitly state that you intend for it to be judged against the work of professionals, then that's the approach I'll take when judging the film.

[crazy_asian_man]

If you make a film and explicitly state that you intend for it to be judged against the work of professionals, then that's the approach I'll take when judging the film.

Ah. Fair enough. Even though the thread topic was specifically for the Superman fan film, I thought it was branching off to speaking more generally about how to judge amateur works.

I know that it's easily arguable either way that once something is put out there, the responsibility can be on the person putting it out there to bear any criticisms....

But on the flip side, there's also critics who can just put out criticism too far, to where someone's just being an ass because they can do so.
How far is too far? Debatable for each case, I suppose.

No one is there to stop them, and it's the price of 'free anonymous internet speech' I suppose. (I differentiate that from 'in real life free speech' because usually in that case, the person has to risk putting out just who they are at the same time) It allows people to go as far as they want in tearing others down in the name of fair criticism.

I'm not saying that things are not free from being criticized, just that the internet often offers a free pass to take it further than it needs to.

[ye5man]

Fan film or not they marketed it seriously, emphasising the # of professionals who worked on it.

"SUPERMAN REQUIEM - a Gene Fallaize film"

Like the name "Gene Fallaize" means anything.

A little humility next time guys

Actually hire people who have some talent.

[crazy_asian_man]

Fan film or not they marketed it seriously, emphasising the # of professionals who worked on it.

"SUPERMAN REQUIEM - a Gene Fallaize film"

Like the name "Gene Fallaize" means anything.

A little humility next time guys

Actually hire people who have some talent.

I'm a little skeptical that people in general would have been much more forgiving if they were more humble about it. But, it defiinitely didn't help his cause.

[ye5man]

"Pride comes before a fall"

[eccentricbeing]

I remember this one dude made a feature length movie after college and being that I helped out his one friend on his short, he wanted me to check it out. So I watched it and I thought it was terrible. It was horribly cliche writing and his decisions with camera movement and placement were questionable.

Now, I'm no Spielberg or Kubrick....but I'm always honest in what I view and for some reason, my filmmaking colleagues always get rubbed the wrong way when I tell them something negative. Like this one kid disagreed with everything I said and blah blah...told me how hard he worked and blah blah. He never spoke to me again after that. ;D

It's not like I'm brutal with honesty. In fact, I like to bring up the positives too. But sometimes, there are no positives other than taking the risk to make the film. When someone dishes out something negative about work, I don't get bent out of shape. Most of the time, I already know the negatives of my stuff. ;D

The key is to always know there's room for improvement...no matter how hard you think you've worked on it. Never be satisfied, even if you make the next Citizen Kane. A lot of the filmmakers around me seem to be content with what they dish out and it always bothers me. I'm content for like 30 seconds and then I'm like "Oh, that background noise needs to be mixed down a bit".

[crazy_asian_man]

I remember this one dude made a feature length movie after college and being that I helped out his one friend on his short, he wanted me to check it out. So I watched it and I thought it was terrible. It was horribly cliche writing and his decisions with camera movement and placement were questionable.

Now, I'm no Spielberg or Kubrick....but I'm always honest in what I view and for some reason, my filmmaking colleagues always get rubbed the wrong way when I tell them something negative. Like this one kid disagreed with everything I said and blah blah...told me how hard he worked and blah blah. He never spoke to me again after that. ;D

It's not like I'm brutal with honesty. In fact, I like to bring up the positives too. But sometimes, there are no positives other than taking the risk to make the film. When someone dishes out something negative about work, I don't get bent out of shape. Most of the time, I already know the negatives of my stuff. ;D

The key is to always know there's room for improvement...no matter how hard you think you've worked on it. Never be satisfied, even if you make the next Citizen Kane. A lot of the filmmakers around me seem to be content with what they dish out and it always bothers me. I'm content for like 30 seconds and then I'm like "Oh, that background noise needs to be mixed down a bit".

There's ONE friend I know that's awesome in receiving and giving brutal criticism on his work. The great thing about him is that when he gives it, he does it in a way that seems very specific and objective, much of it constructive (even when it's negative) because he really takes the time to try to help someone discuss or figure out either solutions to the problems or avoid it completely.

But, that's only ONE friend, out of many over the years that I've known who attempt (and a good number complete) writing/filmmaking.

The 99% of the rest (and there's a mix of talent levels)?

They can dish out criticism when asked (and sometimes when not asked), but can't take it.

It's the rare bug that can give and take the truth, let alone one that can do it in a way that actually helps.

I know a few people who can 'bash' things, but in a way that's so intelligent, that I almost wish that they were professional critics, as I always feel like their insights actually make one stop and think about the ideas they've presented--- as opposed to easy snubs and snarky insults that feel bad-spirited in general, under the guise of 'helpful criticism'.

Good 'negative' criticism (by that, I mean even when the material is bad and its negative) is almost an art form, I've seen it done in writing groups that are able to really push people in a way that makes them improve- without sugar coating it, but at the same time- choosing words that actually WORK at both stopping the mistakes and encouraging the person to try again and that it's in their ability to do so, versus the Howard Stern 'you're a fuckin idiot--- you and your family have no talent and need a bath' type critiques.

It could well be that Fallaize has no talent- but there've been countless interviews with professional directors and writers that say that the ones that succeed are the ones that are able to persevere and work hard later on and don't give up.

I don't know Fallaize (or his actors or crew) on a level that I could make enough of a guess either way, but I question the judgement of a stranger who 'KNOWS' if anyone is going to be a failure or success in the long haul.

History repeats itself, but history also does the weirdest things that you think could never happen.... thus, (with rare exception)whenever I hear that someone WILL always be one way or another, it just sounds incredibly foolish...

[Deleted]

If Fellaize goes on to make $200 million blockbusters that make Inception look like a pile of used condoms, and he ends up buying a house made of diamonds filled with adorable Welsh Corgi puppies, then good for him.

[crazy_asian_man]

If Fellaize goes on to make $200 million blockbusters that make Inception look like a pile of used condoms, and he ends up buying a house made of diamonds filled with adorable Welsh Corgi puppies, then good for him.

That's the spirit!

[Deleted]

I should have included another "and" in there. Didn't mean for it to sound like the puppies are encased in the diamonds. That would be creepy.

[crazy_asian_man]

Don't know if this has been mentioned on other threads:

This Superman fan film (essentially that's what it is) parody actually might have been the way for Fallaize to go..... although it certainly doesn't look low budget!

(Don't worry--- aside from the title, there's nothing work unfriendly here)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4kL2Slx2Cw

Thoughts?